NGOs

Representatives of various NGOs meet informally on the second to last day of SC70 Participants to the 70th meeting of the Standing Committee (SC) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) reconvened for a fourth long day of discussions. In the morning, the CITES Secretariat welcomed progress made by several countries in harmonizing national legislation with the Convention. She noted that Angola, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Mauritania, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan have reported progress on legislation under the National Legislation Project review. She also highlighted that Mongolia, Botswana, and Kazakhstan, originally in the list of countries that have not reported any legislative progress, have taken steps to remedy the situation. Uzbekistan welcomed the support of the Secretariat and noted that the new legislation will be ready by the end of 2018. Two countries, Ecuador and Comoros, have not shown progress on legislation and the Secretariat stated there will be a suspension in commercial trade after 60 days. The Secretariat also noted that several countries have failed to submit national reports for consecutive years and could be subject to commercial trade suspensions if the submission deadline of Oct. 31, 2018 is not met.On trade in live elephants, the SC requested the Secretariat to consult with parties whose elephants are listed in Appendix II and have exported live elephants to non-elephant range states and to seek information on how importing states made their determination on suitable housing and care. The SC also discussed: enforcement issues; illegal trade in cheetah; sturgeons and paddlefish; humphead wrasse; and sharks and rays. IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the 70th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee.   Photos by IISD/ENB | Kiara Worth For photo reprint permissions, please follow instructions at our Attribution Regulations for Meeting Photo Usage Page Morning Session Delegates in plenary during the morning session Sarah Bagnall, New Zealand Mathias Lörtscher, Switzerland, Chair of the Animals Committee Nariman Zhunussov, Kazakhstan Elena Abdullaeva, Uzbekistan Pamela Scruggs, US Felix Monggae, Botswana Tatsiana Zhaliaznova, Belarus Jamel Tahiri, Tunisia Olga Kumalo, South Africa Afternoon Session Delegates gather during the afternoon session Elizabeth Ebahi Omonyemen Ehiebewele, Nigeria Anton Mezhnev, Russian Federation Ali Laoual Abagana, Niger Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, Malaysia Delegates speak informally Agung Nugroho, Indonesia Doreen Mutung'a, Kenya Abba Sonko, Senegal Madeleine Harper, Australia Evening Session View of the dais during the evening plenary Fabiola Rocio Nuñez Neyra, Peru Simon Nemtzov, Israel Hirohide Matsushima, Japan Christiane Roettger, Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) Yumi Okochi, Global Guardian Trust Kim Friedman, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) Around the Venue An umbrella dries after a day of heavy rain Delegates from the Netherlands Ali Mansoor Abbas Abdullah, Bahrain Delegates from the United Arab Emirates Vanesa Tossenberger, Argentina Delegates between sessions A delegate visits the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Earth Negotiations Bulletin website to see coverage of the meeting Delegates speak informally